[Community Discussion]: What is it about your LGS?
General forum
Posted on Dec. 30, 2013, 3:22 p.m. by Epochalyptik
Time for another Community Discussion thread!
This one stars your LGS! What is it about your LGS that keeps you coming back? Is there something your store offers that other stores don't? Is there something about the atmosphere or selection? How does the location and layout of the store influence your opinion?
Conversely, is there something about your store (or other stores) that you don't like? Is there something you wish it had?
As always, opinions and stories are welcome and encouraged.
While I believe I'm too young to set up a game shop with any stability, I do know quite a bit about running shops, from a marketing and relations standpoint.
Firstly location, if you can choose a good location players and interested newcomers will naturally flock to you.
When you open up shop it can be easy to think "I'm going to start with some small unorganized cabinets/shelves as branch out as we grow". But simply starting with that organization makes a huge difference. If you literally have a box/binder divided into colors for expansions that you carry it will make your life and your customers so much easier, in the long run a happy customer is a returning one.
The environment for the best LGS is undeniably a friendly welcoming one, I would encourage all of your players to help any newcomers and remind them that they didn't know the rules at one point. Perhaps offering incentives to do so such as random acts of kindness packs/rewards every month. On top of that it's easy for some of the original supporters/community members of an LGS to form a tight-knit circle, seems good at first but when more people start coming in you realize that that circle is hostile to the environment you're trying to support. For example; friends often "poke fun" at each other lets say by calling them potentially offensive names, if a new customer comes in or perhaps a parent with a child trying to find a social hobby, this will instantly influence how they perceive your shop. You might not see it as bad because you know they're joking but that newcomer or parent isn't going to want to be spending time in a place they perceive as hostile. You can explain this to your community and enforce a rule; No vulgarities, profanity or otherwise rude remarks directed towards other playerss. Probably a rule stating that you can't yell "F***" when your opponent beats you, this should be a strictly enforced rule that results in suspensions from the shop with NO exceptions regarding who the offender is. You as the owner also have strive to uphold the same standards of behavior that you expect everyone else to maintain.
Lastly I feel like the shop setup is a very important feature that ultimately determines how much business you receive. The most successful LGS I have been to was in a long rectangular building. With the entrance being on a narrow end of the rectangle. What this allows for is a place of business in the front section where there is no shenanigans nice display cases and shelves showing your wares, while in the back tables are set up, so to keep gamers from interfering with the business end. Lame qoute "Party in the front, business in the back." trust me when I say I've seen it done other ways, and it simply IS NOT as successful.
I love business and I love managing things, that being said I'm only 17 and while I don't have the resources to make my own business hopefully I've helped you two with yours, should you choose to continue with your endeavor.
PS; If you do you may contact me on here, I'd be more than glad to help with anything, and I'll reply to this thread.
January 4, 2014 6:02 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #3
@gnarlicide & Skaolegur: I've got plenty of business sense. I know what kind of layouts work, how the game room and the front of house should be set up, what to offer the customers, etc. It's a mix of intuition and observation for me. I pick up on a lot of things just by seeing stores and talking to/watching customers.
I don't have any experience running a "real" business, though. I assume it would involve researching business law and getting an idea of what needs to be done from a legal standpoint.
January 4, 2014 6:59 p.m.
killroy726 says... #4
@Epochalyptik it's not as hard as you might think from the legal stand point. Really all you need once you decide to go forward with the business is to get it LLC'd. In my opinion a LLC (limited liability company) is the best way to go for a small business. It grants you the best protection against most law suits.gettung a LLC is also very simple and can be done online in most cases. Im currently studying business management at IU East
January 4, 2014 7:21 p.m.
Epochalyptik I was simply replying to your questions, no need to take offense. Perhaps you should have added questions about licensing and legal practices into your topic?
January 4, 2014 7:47 p.m.
I'm a returning player and I haven't really visited all the LGS in my area. The few stores I've visited to buy merchandise, were pretty small for my liking. Also busy at work lately, I'll probably switch to buying online the next few months. But my friend (who's also a returning player), is really intent on playing FNM and tourneys. We'll see... :)
Epochalyptik & gnarlicide: look up Deriums CCG youtube channel. some of their Q&A videos were about other people thinking of also starting a shop. Derium seems to be a genuinely nice guy; you can probably email/phone him for advice
January 4, 2014 8:21 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #7
@Skaolegur: I didn't take offense to anything you said. I apologize if it seems like I did.
Also, I don't think it's worth adding licensing and legal practices to the overarching discussion because few of our users are likely to know much about either. I might dig around a bit and see what I can find, but that's a project for another month.
January 5, 2014 12:04 a.m.
ColdHeartedSith says... #8
My LGS is fair in prize and support , clean and can host up to 140 person events and has big screen projection for match ups. Things run smooth most of the time and its a melting pot of the casual brewer FNM testing their new world beating deck :) to the semi competitive net deck players and a few seasoned elite who can top 8 with a fist full of commons and some land. The shop has been without much product recently and still goes overboard with store cred for prize support and they have some singles new and old but recently I realized that I just go there because its my shop and I support it and want it to remain in business. Sometimes I think about going to another shop that has Theros in stock for sure and it's then that I understand that its not the packs that I am going to win..thats not why I go there. My shop has plenty of older stuff I can get with store cred to add to my growing and valuable and fun collection. In short, if your shop is cool and fair ,help it grow and give em that chance when a bad budget or two happens. It's not only the LGS owners that make the shop good or bad.
January 5, 2014 1:08 a.m.
I think running a business is part know-how and part personality. I know someone and watched them closely as they ran a small game store some time ago. I also went through some classes all about starting businesses so I have some idea about budgets and legal matters and what it takes to make it work. I think I could be a business partner of some usefulness - but what I lack is the personality. In particular, I don't do a great job of "selling myself" and I think there is some truth in the idea that you have to get people to buy into you before they will buy from you. I am too much substance and not enough image. I am too honest - especially when I am not completely sure about something.
I could go on but there is no need. I think that if you don't have all the things it takes to run a business all by your lonesome, you could probably look around to see if someone else that you know has any of the "missing pieces" that you are able to identify.
January 5, 2014 8:48 a.m.
Something I don't like about one of my favorite FNM locations: events never start on time, and due to so many players, and hence so many rounds of play, I don't get out of there until after 2 in the morning. O.o
It's super fun, so totally worth it, but man.. when I have to get up early for work on Saturday morning, I am hurtin!
January 5, 2014 11:36 p.m.
Some1TookMyName says... #12
I think its the crowd. You can find losers, geeks, hipsters, old, young, all races, bums, tattooed up guys, military, clean or dirty looking people, male, females, dudes, bros, tools, all styles and characteristics of people and etc and we're all there to play magic. The diversity is really cool and I really enjoy that.
January 6, 2014 4:42 a.m.
Ultimaodin says... #13
There are 3 'LGS', unfortunately local for me means an hour drive. The three, that I know of are Bushido Games, Good Games, and Tactics.
Good Games is the one I usually go to because I enjoy the atmosphere and it seems to have the largest play area. Plus I went here for pre-release and have kind of stuck here. The guy who runs the place is friendly and most the people there are as well.
Tactics is hidden, and by hidden I mean I've been there once and have no idea how to ever get back to it. It's in a like a shopping arcade down stairs to a basement level somewhere in the thick of the shopping district.
Bushido Games, is cheap. The do bulk buying specials such as when all the commander decks came out. Unfortunately playing there isn't that fun. I drafted there once and store owner likes to hover over people. I was playing a pseudo-control combat tricks deck and he kept telling me I need to play faster. Anybody who has ever played a control/tempo deck can tell you having somebody over your shoulder telling you to hurry up can result in some pretty bad misplays.
gnarlicide says... #1
Epochalyptik, see I am in a different boat than you. I could use a VA loan from the military (you get one for a set amount of service) to start a business. It's an extremely substantial amount of money for a startup. But my problem is, while I know what would make a solid shop, I am hesitant because I don't know dick about running a business. I would assume it's like running a household on a much larger scale with balancing the books and all that. I guess I am just afraid to jump into it because of a general lack of business knowledge. Is it actually difficult to run a shop? Should I find a partner that knows business things, and put forth the capital to open it and stock it? Or should I just say fuck it and play it by ear? Those are the questions I have. I never went to college due to my 9 years in the Army, and coincidentally I don't know anything outside of military experience. So I feel like I would just end up hurting myself in the end running a place like that. If it isn't difficult to run, I would do it in a heartbeat. If I actually have to know something, that's a different story.
January 4, 2014 5:03 p.m.